Labour and The Greens are clearly setting the agenda with a strong focus on housing affordability. National are struggling to catch up. But their new policy has been met with a chorus of criticism. They are going to have to do a lot better than this.
So, let me see if I have this right: National’s big announcement on affordable housing was the increase the income and house price limits for getting the Kiwisaver First Home Deposit Subsidy. In other words, pour more money into the over-heated housing market. And do that by giving cash to people previously considered too well-off for the subsidy.
Labour will be pleased at the reaction to its Latest housing policy, from Vernon Small, John Armstrong and (knock me down with a feather) Colin Espiner. Opinion polling is also in favour.
I know many of the liberal left don’t like or can’t accept the thought that banning non-residents from speculating on residential property in […]
An NZ Herald Editorial exposes John Key’s politically motivated spin against Shearer’s housing policy, but also takes some swipes at the “left”. Gower misleads, by repeating Key’s “anti-Asian” smears, supported by the eg of a website targeting South African property speculators.
Why is it acceptable to his government that, under the current law, Kiwi families can be outbid for Kiwi houses by overseas speculators who have no intention of living here? What good to the New Zealand economy is created by non-resident foreigners buying existing New Zealand houses? In the new sprawl suburbs he wants to create, how many houses being bought by foreign speculators would be acceptable to him?
Patrick Gower’s report on TV3 6pm News tonight, on Labour’s housing for Kiwis policy, shows what is wrong with corporate infotainment TV news. He gets tonight’s award for Jonolism. Here’s hoping the Campbell Live tonight will show Gower how it should be done. [Update: Campbell interviews Ferguson]
David Shearer on Q+A just set out new policy on housing, proposing restrictions on overseas buyers. It’s another big policy move from Labour…
Key’s wringing his hands, saying that the Reserve bank is likely to bring in loan to value ratio requirements without an exception for first home buyers but claiming that first home buyers are still his priority. If that were true, he would have done his part to tackle the real problems in the housing market: speculators, foreign buyers, and lack of affordable home building.
Houses are seriously unaffordable, especially for first-time buyers. Labour’s policy settings will help first-time buyers, the Reserve Bank under the current government is proposing tougher requirements that will make matters worse for them. Parties of the Left need to take this issue and run hard!
Slippery John Key continues with the theft of the common weal, while the Kiwis with the least powerful voices are being neglected. Labour MPs, it’s time to get over your personality politics, your divisions and careerist maneuverings, and step up.
Mana’s housing policy is ambitious, and leaves National’s inaction looking increasingly isolated and out of touch. But there are too many gaps in this policy as currently stated. Needs work.
The leaderless uprising in Brazil exposes unbearable inequalities in a dysfunctional post-growth world. Extravagant sports events and expensive stadium contrast with anti-public service austerity measures. Home building lags in Christchurch, while Key looks to asset sales to fund a stadium.
The Right’s favourite sprawl example at the moment. Sections for $50,000. Wow! But they haven’t asked why new sections in Houston are so cheap. They’ve just assumed its because Houston doesn’t have tight zoning rules. In fact, they do – but their rules encourage sprawl. And, while the land may be cheap, it means much higher living costs – particularly transport.
Housing Minister Nick Smith had ominous words for Auckland. Hands up all you Aucklanders who are keen to sacrifice quality housing?
As Naomi Klein said in the Shock Doctrine documentary, disorienting natural and economic shocks result in the wealth being shifted from “public hands” to the wealthiest. The wealth gap, and extent of poverty in NZ is increasingly & devastatingly marginalising good Kiwis. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson is flying high.
Nick Smith has a long history of slippery dealings. He apologises but accepts no blame, then is resurrected: contempt of court, a defamation case, the Pullar-ACC “conflict of interest”, bad faith negotiations with Auckland Council, the Denniston Plateau deal. Yesterday on RNZ, Smith exposed the government’s agenda on mining conservation land.
Yesterday’s budget is a sop to affordable housing & aims to privatise state housing. Penny Hulse says the government’s related “housing accord” Bill is at odds with the agreement her council has not yet ratified. It overrides local democracy & endangers the AKL “agreement”. [Update] Waitakere News analysis
A reader sent us a comment from another blog by someone who was polled a couple of weeks back. The questions are very interesting, especially once you realise that it’s clearly being done for National and the Right in Auckland (one of the questions gives it away). Have a read, then I’ll tell you why I reckon the Nats are going to fund the City Rail Link in the Budget.
There’s more than one way to fleece the public of our assets. While attention is the energy companies, there’s also privatisation in the form of public organisations selling of their operations (eg Orcon), and opening public funding to for-profit companies (eg. charter schools). More seems on the cards for our state housing as National offers to give over control to private organisations.
KiwiBuild has already been a success, scaring the Nats in to producing, in conjunction with Len Brown’s Auckland, a more significant housing policy. The “Unitary Plan” is woefully short on detail, but it concedes that KiwiBuild’s target of 10,000 new homes a year is easily achievable (I guess it’s only impossible when Labour propose it).
Because things aren’t quite tough enough for first-time home buyers yet.
To the Herald the Fourth Estate must be a greenfield development on the outer margins of Auckland: a Dickensian space, hiding the poor from the upper middle-classes. The Herald lacks critical balance & equal weighting for diverse views: it scaremongers about the Akl Unitary Plan & undermines public transport.
The film, Housing in New Zealand (1945) on youtube, shows how the Public Works Department built state houses for all who needed them. The authorities seemed Brit-defined, supply of resources & land seemed unlimited. But can we fulfill 21st century needs with similar political will?!
So, John Key, Bill English, and Steven Joyce are now devoting all their energy into trying to stop the asset sales programme collapsing after the Greens and Labour gave notice the excessive profits are going to end, and National confirmed they’re for real by suspending the sale. While the government’s wasting its effort on that, real families are suffering.
The draft Auckland Unitary Plan is massive and complex. The Auckland Transport Blog helps in untangling issues around intensification vs sprawl. The government & some right wing councillors want sprawl & to delay implementation. The Akl Council website has some cool videos visualising the planned developments. And social housing?
The Green Party held a public meeting in West Auckland, on their Home for Life, Affordable Housing policy – it prioritises children in poverty. It was informative, questions were raised. Mindsets need to change to achieve a good quality of life & strong communities for all.
The Draft Auckland Unitary Plan has much to commend it. It focuses on resource management, responds to the reality of climate change & aims for a more dense but ‘liveable’ city. It has weaknesses, embraces destructive “growth” and raises questions: e.g. about affordable housing & environmental management.
A survey of real estate agents has revealed that 9% of house sales result in the house going to an overseas buyer. Half say they plan to come and live here – that leaves 5% going to overseas investors. For some reason, the BNZ is trying to pretend that’s a small number. I find it a staggering number. Until now, I would have guess maybe 1 in 50 house sales went to overseas buyers.
Nick Smith, of the forked tongue, is challenging Auckland council’s plan for affordable compact housing. It will do nothing for housing affordability, transport, the environment. It is undemocratic, over-rides the council, and will enrich developers.
Yesterday, David Cunliffe,on Peter Dunne’s Student Loan Amendment Bill, & the related inter-generational swindle, labelled Dunne as “Minister for Small Changes” & “for Small Things”. Dunne further showed his support of the “neoliberal” swindle, with a couple of tweets on non-residents buying NZ property, smearing the Greens as racist.
In last year’s budget Key promised his government would build 2,000 new homes. They delivered (wait for it) … 68. I/S at No Right Turn (happy birthday by the way!) takes them to task…
The Salavation Army “State of the Nation” report is out today, and, as Metiria Turei says, it makes depressing reading. It describes a nation of increasing inequalities, with those on low incomes, and their children, being hit particularly hard.
